Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

leave their households. The precipitating incident that leads to leaving
the family household <strong>of</strong>ten is a traumatic one, such as a severe beating.
At other times, it is provoked by a minor incident such as failing to come
home at a specified time (Ardaya and Domic 1991). Sometimes children
leave their homes and return to them after a short time on the streets.
More <strong>of</strong>ten, however, the children never return.
Once in the streets, many <strong>of</strong> these children adopt a delinquent lifestyle,
joining other children in similar situations to form roving gangs. These
gangs serve as a source <strong>of</strong> support and protection from adults and corrupt
police <strong>of</strong>ficers who victimize street children. Often, street children are
introduced to the drug distribution world by other members <strong>of</strong> their gang.
Their involvement in the drug business is seen by many <strong>of</strong> the children as
a way <strong>of</strong> making a living. This particularly is true in the involvement <strong>of</strong>
street children in the cocaine and marijuana distribution networks in
Bolivia. The consumption <strong>of</strong> cocaine and marijuana <strong>of</strong>ten is followed by
their involvement in drug-dealing activities (Ardaya and Domic 1991).
The initiation into the use <strong>of</strong> inhalants among street children is different
from that <strong>of</strong> cocaine and marijuana. Often street children turn to inhalant
use to moderate or reduce their feelings <strong>of</strong> hunger, to deal with the cold
weather, to become accepted by their peers, to feel they fit in and are
happy, or to forget their current condition. Once street children initiate
inhalant use, they seldom stop their use. Only when they leave the
environment <strong>of</strong> the streets or stabilize their street survival activities do
many <strong>of</strong> the children stop their use (Asociación Drogadictos Anonimos
1987). According to Ardaya and Domic (1991), the use <strong>of</strong> inhalants
among street children is a prelude to their involvement with other illicit
drugs and a lifelong lifestyle <strong>of</strong> drug use.
Baldivieso (1993) has created a psychosocial model as shown in figure 3
that provides an overview <strong>of</strong> the pathways that lead to inhalant use
among many <strong>of</strong> the children who live in the streets. This model is based
on a conceptual framework that denotes the importance <strong>of</strong> socialization
experiences in early childhood and the role <strong>of</strong> familial and socioeconomic
factors in the inhalant-using behavior <strong>of</strong> youths at risk.
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